Deck latch mechanism



E. D. DALL 2,700,885

Feb. 1, 1955 DECK LATCH MECHANISM 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 10 1951 Fl q i EVZ ETZTEZ T Edward .D, D 22 Feb. 1, 1955 Filed May 10. 195;

E. D. DALL DECK LATCH MECHANISM 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ITFE'IZTZLET Edward D. Dai/ United States Patent DECK LATCH MECHANISM Edward D. Dall, Detroit, Mich., assignor to Houdaille- Hershey Corporation, Detroit, Mich., a corporation of Michigan Application May 10, 1951, Serial No. 225,628

7 Claims. (Cl. 70-144) This invention relates to improvements in latching mechanisms and more particularly relates to a simplified improved form of latching mechanism and release therefor for use in locking a deck door of a rear deck or luggage compartment of an automobile.

A principal object of my invention is to provide a novel and improved form of deck latch of the sliding bolt type, together with a simplified and novel form of depressible release therefor.

A further object of my invention is to provide a novel and improved form of deck latch including a main latching lever mounted for pivotal and sliding movement, together with a dogging or latch retaining means holding the latch when in a latched position against unlatching movement, but permitting further movement thereof in a latching direction, and a locking lever for the dogging lever for locking the latch in latched position and engaged by the dogging lever at spaced-apart points, one of which holds the dogging lever in a latching position and the other of which acts as a safety to prevent unlatching movement of the dogging lever until the locking lever is positively moved into a full released position.

A further object of my invention is to provide a latch mechanism including a latching lever having dogging means for dogging said lever in a latching position, together with push button operated means operable from the outside of the vehicle to release the dogging lever and allow unlatching of the lock.

A further and more detailed object of my invention is to provide a novel and efficient form of latching mechanism for the rear decks of automobiles, wherein the latching lever is slidably and pivotally mounted for movement in a plane generally parallel to the plane of swing of the deck door and is held in latching position by a locking lever positively holding a dogging lever for the latch from pivotal movement, and wherein a push button, turnable into and out of operative connection with the locking lever, is provided to effect release of the dogging lever and permit opening of the door.

These and other objects of my invention will appear from time to time as the following specification proceeds and with reference to the accompanying drawings, where- Figure 1 is a partial fragmentary longitudinal sectional view taken through the rear deck and deck door of an automobile, showing one form in which the latching mechanism of my invention may be embodied;

Figure 2 is an end view of the latching mechanism, looking toward the outer side thereof;

Figure 3 is a top plan view of the latching mechanism, showing the mechanism in a door latching position; and

Figure 4 is a view in front elevation of the latching mechanism looking in a plane generally parallel to the plane of door swinging movement and showing the latching mechanism in a latched position.

In the embodiment of my invention illustrated in the drawings, a deck latching mechanism operating on principles somewhat similar to those of the deck latch illustrated in my application, Serial No. 178,277, filed August 8, 1950, now Patent No. 2,658,778 issued November 10, 1953, is shown, so the latching mechanism need only be described herein in sufiicient detail to clearly set forth the new parts thereof and render the release and safety catch mechanism readily understandable.

Reference character in Figure 1 indicates generally the rear deck of an automobile having a recess 11 therein to receive a downwardly projecting nose 12 of a latch 2,700,885 Patented Feb. 1, 1955 plate 13 when the deck door is locked. The recess 11 is herein shown as being bridged by a keeper or striker 14, suitably secured to the deck 10 at opposite sides of said recess. The keeper 14 has a strike surface extending in a plane generally perpendicular to the path of door closing movement, which is apertured as indicated at 15 to receive and guide the downwardly projecting nose 12 of the latch plate 13 and be engaged by a latching lever 16 to lock the deck door closed. The latching lever 16 is pivotally and slidably mounted on the latch plate 13, for engagement with the keeper 14, as will hereinafter more clearly appear as this specification proceeds.

The latch plate 13 is herein shown as being mounted within a lock housing 17, with the nose 12 extending downwardly therefrom into position to pass through the apertured portion 15 of the keeper 14 as the door is being closed. The lock housing 17 is shown as being secured to and extending inwardly from a rear plate 19 of the deck door. The deck door may be hinged at its upper end to the car body (not shown) and moves in an arcuate path in a generally vertical direction about the axis of its hinges during door opening and closing movement.

The latch plate 13, like the latch plate shown in my aforementioned Patent No. 2,658,778, may be stamped from a single sheet of steel and the lower margin thereof may be flanged to lend rigidity to said latch plate and afford a means to secure said plate to the lock housing. The latch plate 13 has a flange 21 extending inwardly from the upper end thereof at right angles with respect to said latch plate.

The latching lever 16 is slidably and pivotally mounted on the latch plate 13 on a pin 23, herein shown as being secured to said latching lever intermediate the ends thereof and as extending from said latching lever through a slot 24, extending along the latch plate 13 in the general direction of door closing movement (see Figure 4). On the outer end of the pin 23, on the outside of the plate 13, is mounted a torsion spring 25 which may be suitably secured at its inner end to said pin. The free or outer end of the torsion spring 25 is shown as engaging a downwardly hooked nib 27, pressed outwardly from the latch plate 13. The torsion spring 25 is wound to bias the latching lever 16 in a counterclockwise direction and to urge the pin 23 to move toward the lower end of the slot 24 and maintain the strike surface of the latching lever 16 in engagement with an edge of the apertured portion 15 of the keeper 14, when the latching mechanism is in the door latching position shown in Figs. 1 and 4.

Pivotal and slidable movement of the latching lever 16 is controlled by the dogging lever 29. The dogging lever 29 is shown as being pivotally mounted on the opposite side of the latch plate 13 from the latching lever 16 on a pivot pin 30. The pivot pin 30 may be riveted or otherwise secured to said plate, adjacent but spaced outwardly from the upper margins of the latching lever 16 toward one side of said plate. The pin 30 may be a headed pin, to retain the dogging lever 29 thereon.

The dogging lever 29 has a dogging arm 31 extending angularly inwardly and downwardly from the pin 30. A headed pin 33 is secured to said dogging arm at its inner end and extends through an arcuate slot 34 in the plate 13 and slidably engages an upwardly opening slot 35 formed between the furcations of a bifurcated upper end portion 36 of the latching lever 16.

The dogging lever 29 also has a locking arm 37 extending along the outer side of the latch plate 13 and upwardly therefrom above the top surface of the flange 21, when the latch is in a door locking position.

A locking lever 39 is herein shown as being pivoted adjacent one of its ends on the end of the flange 21 remote from the pivotal axis of the dogging lever 29. A headed pin 40 is shown as being riveted to the flange 21 adjacent the outer end of said flange, and as projecting upwardly therefrom, to form a pivot for the locking lever 39. The locking lever 39 extends inwardly along the flange 21 beyond the end thereof and has an outwardly extending projection or lug 41 engageable by the under side of the free end of the locking arm 37, to hold said dogging lever in a dogging position. A lever arm 43 extends inwardly from the locking lever 39 adjacent the pivotal axis thereof, to which is connected a free end of a tension spring 44. The opposite ends of the tension spring 44 is connected with an apertured portion of the flange 21, to bias the locking lever 39 in position to be engaged by the under side of the locking arm 37 and hold said dogging lever in a dogging position.

The dogging lever 29 likewise has a safety latch arm 46 extending upwardly from its pivotal axis and having an engaging end portion 47 extending over an outwardly turned arm 49 of the locking lever 39. The arm 49 is shown as extending in the direction of the path of travel of said lever. The underside of the engaging end 47 of the safety latch arm 46 of the dogging lever 29 is spaced above the top of the outturned arm 49 of the locking lever 39 and normally is out of contact with said arm, but comes in contact with said arm to hold the dogging lever in a dogging position in cases where the locking lever may be pivoted a distance sufficient to disengage the nib 41 from the free end of the arm 37, but insufficient to entirely open the door, and then be released.

The outside operating mechanism for the locking lever 39 includes a push button 50, shown as being slidably mounted within a lock casing 51, and secured to the rear plate 19 of the door. The push button 50 is shown in Figure l as having a flanged sleeve 32 mounted thereon and slidably guided within the lock casing 51. A spring 53 encircles said sleeve and is interposed between the flanged portion thereof and an inner cover plate 54 for the lock casing 51. The spring 53 urges the sleeve 32 and push button 50 outwardly with respect to the lock casing. The push button 50 may have a key slot 55 opening to the outer end thereof and extending therealong and may have key operated mechanism therein (not shown), operable to hold said push button and the sleeve 32 from turning movement with respect to the casing 51, or to permit turning movement thereof into a locked position.

As herein shown, an operating arm 56 depends from and is secured to the free end of the sleeve 32. Said arm normally depends from the end of said sleeve when the push button 50 is in an unlocked position within a recessed portion 57 of the locking lever 39, spaced beyond the end of the flange 21. Upon depression of the push button 50, the arm 56 will thus pivot the locking lever 39 about the axis of the pin 40, to release the nib 41 from under the free end of the locking arm 37, and to move the outturned arm portion 49 out of position to be engaged by the inturned end of the safety latch arm 46 of the dogging lever 29. This will release the latching lever 16 and permit opening of the deck door.

When it is desired to lock the deck door from opening movement. a key (not shown) may be inserted in the key slot 55 and pivot said push button to move the operating arm 56 in the upwardly extending position shown in dotted lines in Figure 1. The push button may then be freely depressed without having any operating effect upon the locking lever 39.

It may be seen from the foregoing that a simplified form of release has been provided for a deck latch, operated by the depression of a push button, and that the release may be held in a locked position by merely turning the push button into a position where it will be ineffective to move the locking lever to a released position.

It may further be seen that the release is push button operated and serves to maintain the lock in a locked position and also acts as a safety catch to prevent unintentional release of the locking mechanism by accidentally depressing the push button 50.

It will be understood that modifications and variations of this invention may be effected without departing from the scope of the novel concepts thereof.

1 claim as my invention:

1. In a deck latch for association with a keeper and a cooperating deck-door, a latching assembly including a latch plate, a latching lever mounted on said latch plate for engagement with a keeper, a dogging lever pivoted on said latch plate and having slidable engagement with said latching lover, a pivoted locking lever, an arm extending from said dogging lever into position to overlie and engage said locking lever to be releasably held stationary thereby in a dogging position, and said dogging lever having a safety latch arm overlying said locking lever at a point remote from the point of engagement of said first arm with respect thereto, and preventing accidental release of said dogging lever upon partial movement of said locking lever into a released position.

2. In a deck latch for association with a keeper and a cooperating door, a latching assembly including a latch plate, a latching lever mounted on said plate for engagement with a keeper, :1 dogging lever pivoted on said plate and having slidable engagement with said latching lever, a locking lever pivoted on said plate for movement in a plane perpendicular to the plane of movement of said dogging lever, said locking lever having an engaging portion underlying a free end of said dogging lever to releasably hold said dogging lever from movement in a dogging position, and also having a free end portion extending in the general path of pivotal movement of said locking lever, said dogging lever having a safety catch arm overlying the free end portion of said locking lever and spaced therefrom, but engageable therewith upon accidental movement of said locking lever in a release direction to a partially released position, a spring urging said locking lever into a locked position, a depressible push button, an operating arm on the free end thereof, positionable to engage said locking lever and pivot said locking lever in position to release said dogging lever upon depression of said push button, and movable upon pivotal movement of said push button into position free from said locking lever and ineffective to release the same when the door is locked.

3. In a deck latch for association with a keeper and cooperating deck door, a latching assembly including a latch plate extending in the general direction of door opening movement and having a flanged portion extending inwardly therefrom and extending therealong for a portion of the length thereof, a latching lever mounted on said latch plate for engagement with a keeper, a dogging lever pivoted on said latch plate and having slidable engagement with said latching lever, a locking lever pivoted on said flange adjacent an end thereof remote from the axis of said dogging lever on said latch plate, for movement in the general plane of said flange, and having an engaging portion projecting therefrom beyond the outer side of said latch plate and adapted to underlie and be engaged by said dogging lever for releasably locking said dogging lever from movement in a clogging position, said locking lever also having an arm extending therefrom toward the pivotal axis of said dogging lever beyond the end of said flange and turned transversely of said lever to extend in the general path of travel of said locking lever upon pivotal movement thereof, and said dogging lever having a safety catch arm overlying said projecting end portion of said locking lever, to prevent accidental release of said dogging lever upon partial movement of said locking lever in a release direction.

4. In a deck latch for association with a keeper and a cooperating deck door, a latching assembly including a latch plate, a latching lever mounted on said plate for engagement with a keeper, a dogging lever pivoted on said latch plate and having slidable engagement with said latching lever, said latch plate extending in the general direction of door opening movement and having an inwardly extending flange at the upper end thereof, extending for a portion of the length of said latch plate, a locking lever pivotally mounted on the outer end of said flange and having an intermediate projecting portion extending beyond said latch plate when said locking lever is in a locked position to underlie an end of said dogging lever and releasably hold said dogging lever stationary in a dogging position, a spring holding said locking lever in a locked position, said locking lever having a recessed portion spaced beyond the end of said flange, and a rectilinearly movable release arm extending into said recessed portion and rectilinearly movable to pivot said locking lever into position to release said dogging lever and movable out of said recessed portion into position to be ineffective to unlock the door.

5. In a deck latch for association with a keeper and a cooperating door, a latching assembly including a latch plate extending in the general direction of door opening movement, a latching lever extending along said plate and movably mounted thereon for engagement with a keeper, 2. dogging lever pivoted on the outer side of said latch plate and having slidable engagement with said latching lever, said latch plate terminating at its upper end into an inwardly extending flange extending therealong for a portion of the length thereof, a locking lever pivoted on said flange adjacent an end thereof remote from the pivot of said dogging lever on said latch plate, said locking lever having an intermediate engaging portion projecting beyond the outer end of said latch plate into position to underlie and be engaged by said dogging lever, to releasably lock said dogging lever in a stationary dogging position, a spring connected between said flange and locking lever and yieldably urging said locking lever into a locked position, said locking lever having a recessed portion intermediate its ends and an outwardly turned outer end portion extending in the general path of movement of said locking lever'beyond the intermediate engaging portion thereof, said dogging lever having an upwardly projecting and inwardly extending safety catch arm overlying said outwardly turned end portion of said locking lever but spaced therefrom and movable into engagement therewith upon release of the end of said dogging lever from said intermediate engaging portion and a rectilinearly movable release arm extending into said recessed portion for engagement with said locking lever to move said locking lever into a released position upon depression of said push button, and said release arm being turnable by key means to render said arm ineffective to unlock the door.

6. In a latch mechanism for association with a keeper and a cooperating door, a pivoted and rectilinearly movable latching lever engageabie with the keeper, spring means connected with said latching lever and urging said latching lever to pivotally and rectilinearly move to take up any looseness between said latching lever and said keeper, a dogging lever, 21 releasable locking lever having engagement with said dogging lever for holding said dogging lever in a stationary dogging position to hold said latching lever in a latching position, but accommodating movement thereof into positions to take up looseness between said latching lever and said keeper, and means including a push button operable from the outside of the door for releasing said dogging lever to free said latching lever from its latching position.

7. In a latch mechanism for association with a keeper and a cooperating door, a pivoted and rectilinearly guided latching lever, a spring connected with said latching lever and urging said latching lever to rotate and move reetilinearly to take up any looseness between said latching lever and said keeper, a dogging lever having slidable guiding engagement with said latching lever and holding said latching lever from movement in a direction to release the latch but allowing movement of said latching lever in a direction to take up on said keeper when said dogging lever is held in a dogging position, a locking lever engageable with said dogging lever for holding said dogging lever in a dogging position, and a push button operated from the outside of the door and having operative engagement with said locking lever to move said locking lever in a direction to release said dogging lever.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,218,183 Springer Oct. 15, 1940 2,368,840 Jones Feb. 6, 1945 2,482,959 Anderson et al. Sept. 27, 1949 2,603,516 Roethel July 15, 1952 

